The present invention relates to a parking brake device with which a brake lever is carried by an installation member such that it is capable of being turned between a release position and an actuating position, and by turning the brake lever from said release position to said actuating position, a force is transmitted to a braking portion through a brake wire for generation of a braking force.
Conventionally, as this type of parking brake device, a manual type parking brake device which brake lever is disposed in the vicinity of the driver""s seat of a vehicle, and with which, by pulling up the brake lever from a thrown-down position to an actuating position, a force is transmitted to the braking portion through a brake wire for generation of a braking force is known. Such parking brake devices include an accommodation type one with which, after pulling up the brake lever to the actuating position, the brake lever is thrown down from the actuating position to the accommodation position while a desired braking force being maintained, thus a projection feeling in the compartment is eliminated with the fineness of the appearance being improved, and the roominess and safety being bettered.
Also, to effectively provide a feeling of harmony of the brake lever with the interior equipment in the compartment and thus improve the fineness of the appearance of the compartment inside, a certain type of parking brake device disposes the brake lever in the side edge portion of the console box formed in the middle of the instrument panel.
Thus, because the brake lever is also a piece of interior equipment to be provided in the compartment, a variety of contrivances for preventing the fineness of the appearance of the compartment inside from being impaired, and bettering the safety of the passengers have been given to it.
However, with the above stated accommodation type parking brake device, the brake lever must have a complicated motion of being thrown down into the accommodation position, thus there has arisen a problem of that the construction is intricate, resulting in the number of parts and the man-hours for assembling being increased, which leads to an increase in the cost.
The present invention has been carried out in consideration of the above-stated problem associated with the prior art, and is intended to provide a parking brake device which can not only better the safety, but also reduce the cost by simplifying the construction.
This purpose of the present invention can be achieved by:
[1] A parking brake device with which a brake lever (30) is carried by an installation member such that it is capable of being turned between a release position and an actuating position, and by pulling the brake lever (30) toward the compartment for turning it from said release position to said actuating position, a force is transmitted to a braking portion through a brake wire for generation of a braking force, wherein
a shock absorbing portion (35, 36) which resists an operating force in pulling said brake lever (30) toward the compartment, and which is deformed by an impact force in the direction (D2) which is approximately opposite to the direction (D1) of pulling said brake lever (30) toward the compartment, absorbing the impact force, is provided for said brake lever (30).
[2] A parking brake device with which a brake lever (30) is carried by an installation member such that it is capable of being turned between a release position and an actuating position, and by pulling the brake lever (30) toward the compartment for turning it from said release position to said actuating position, a force is transmitted to a braking portion through a brake wire for generation of a braking force, wherein
a lever body (31), which is the body of said brake lever (30), having a grip portion (32), and a grip (40) which covers the circumference of the grip portion (32) of the lever body (31), and
a shock absorbing portion (35, 36) which resists an operating force in pulling said brake lever (30) toward the compartment, and which is deformed by an impact force in the direction (D2) which is approximately opposite to the direction (D1) of pulling said brake lever (30) toward the compartment, absorbing the impact force, is provided for the grip portion (32) of said lever body (31).
[3] A parking brake device as stated in par. [1] or par. [2], wherein said shock absorbing portion (35, 36) is formed in the shape of a cutout slot which slot opening (35a, 36a) is closed, being disposed such that, when it is subjected to an operating force in pulling said brake lever (30) toward the compartment, the slot opening (35a, 36a) of said cutout slot is closed for resistance to the operating force, while being disposed such that, when it is subjected to an impact force in the direction (D2) which is approximately opposite to the direction (D1) in pulling said brake lever (30) toward the compartment, the slot opening (35a, 36a) of said cutout slot is opened for absorption of the impact force.
[4] A parking brake device as stated in par. [1], par. [2] or par. [3], wherein said shock absorbing portion (35, 36) is formed in the shape of a cutout slot which is recessed from one (32a) of both side edges of the body of said brake lever (30) or one (32a) of both side edges of the grip portion (32) of said lever body (31) that is located on said compartment side to the bother (32b) of said both side edges.
[5] A parking brake device as stated in par. [1], par. [2], par. [3] or par. [4], wherein the body of said brake lever (30) comprises a pair of lever bodies (31) which are combined with each other, and said shock absorbing portion (35, 36) is disposed in respective desired locations between the base end portion (33) of the lever body (31), which corresponds to the end portion of said brake lever (30) on the turning center side, and the top end portion of the lever body.
Next, the function of the invention as stated in the above respective paragraphs will be described.
The brake lever (30) is carried by a piece of interior equipment, such as a console box providing the front wall of a compartment, through an installation member such that it is rotatable.
By pulling the brake lever (30) toward the compartment to turn it from the release position to the actuating position, a force is transmitted to the braking portion through a brake wire for generation of a braking force. In this case, the shock absorbing portion (35, 36) resists to the operating force in pulling the brake lever (30) toward the compartment, thus the operability of the brake lever (30) will not be adversely affected. When the brake lever (30) is in the actuating position, said brake lever (30) can be constrained in the actuating position by means of a lock mechanism, for example.
When the brake lever (30) is constrained in the actuating position, operating the release knob, for example, to release it from the constraint by the lock mechanism, and, in order to turn the brake lever (30) from the actuating position to the release position, operating the brake lever (30) in the direction which is opposite to the direction (D1) in pulling it toward the compartment will cancel the braking force.
When the brake lever (30) is disposed on the console box or the like providing the front wall of the compartment, there is the possibility of the brake lever (30) being subjected to an impact force in the direction (D2) which is approximately opposite to the direction (D1) of pulling the brake lever (30), (hereafter abbreviated to an impact force), in the event of, for example, a front collision of the vehicle. Specifically, there is the possibility of something accommodated in the vehicle being collided with the brake lever (30), or in some case, the possibility of a passenger, including the driver, striking directly or indirectly against the brake lever (30).
The brake lever (30), which is the body of the brake lever (30), is provided with a lever body (31) having a grip portion (32), and a grip (40) covering the circumference of the grip portion (32) of that lever body (31).
With the brake lever (30) configured as stated above, the shock absorbing portion (35, 36) is provided in the grip portion (32) of the lever body (31). In other words, when something accommodated in the vehicle is collided with the grip (40), the impact force is applied to the grip portion (32), and it is absorbed by the shock absorbing portion (35, 36) which is provided in the grip portion (32). On the other hand, because the grip (40) is generally molded with the use of a soft plastic material, the grip (40) itself can absorb the impact force, and thus can prevent the things accommodated from being damaged, and secure the safety for the driver.
Specifically, the shock absorbing portion (35, 36) is formed in the shape of a cutout slot which slot opening (35a, 36a) is closed. The state in which the slot opening (35a, 36a) is closed is not limited to the completely closed state, but includes the slightly opened state.
Such shock absorbing portion (35, 36) can resist the operating force in pulling the brake lever (30) toward the compartment, because, when the brake lever (30) is pulled toward the compartment in order to turn it from the release position to the actuating position, for example, the operating force in the pulling is applied to the cutout slot, but the slot opening (35a, 36a) of the cutout slot is closed, and will not be deformed, or the slot opening (35a, 36a) which is slightly opened is slightly deformed, being closed, and will not be further deformed.
On the other hand, when the brake lever (30) is released from the constraint by the lock mechanism by means of the release knob, for example, in order to turn the brake lever (30) from the actuating position to the release position, for example, the brake lever (30) is returned from the actuating position to the release position by the energizing force, thus the operating force in the direction opposite to the compartment will not be applied to the cutout slot, or, if it is applied to the cutout slot, the operating force is slight, and thus the slot opening (35a, 36a) of the cutout slot will not be opened and deformed.
As stated above, operation for turning the brake lever (30) between the release position and the actuating position will not deform the shock absorbing portion (35, 36), which provides a cutout slot, thus the operability of the brake lever (30) being maintained.
When the impact force is applied to the cutout slot in the brake lever (30), resulting in a stress concentration occurring in the shock absorbing portion (35, 36), which provides a cutout slot, the slot opening (35a, 36a) of the cutout slot is opened to be deformed to the extent which varies depending upon the impact force, and thus the impact force is absorbed.
Such a cutout slot is recessed from one (32a) of both side edges of the body of the brake lever (30) or one (32a) of both side edges of the grip portion (32) of the lever body (31) that is located on the compartment side to the other (32b) of both side edges.
When an impact force is applied to the brake lever (30), a tensile force is applied to one (32a) of both side edges of the body of the brake lever (30) or one (32a) of both side edges of the grip portion (32) of the lever body (31) such that the brake lever (30) is deflected in the direction which is opposite to the direction toward the compartment. The tensile force acts so as to open the slot opening (35a, 36a) of the cutout slot which is formed on the side of said one side edge (32a), thus, with a slight impact force, the amount of opening of the slot opening (35a, 36a) of the cutout slot is small, while, with a greater impact force, the amount of opening is larger. In other words, the slot opening (35a, 36a) of the cutout slot is deformed to the degree of the impact force to absorb the impact force.
The body of the brake lever (30) is constructed by combining a pair of lever bodies (31) with each other, and when the pair of lever bodies (31) is provided with a shock absorbing portion (35, 36), respectively, the degree of impact force which can be absorbed by the shock absorbing portion (35, 36) varies depending upon the geometry of the shock absorbing portion (35, 36) and the like, however, it is greatly affected by the location where the shock absorbing portion (35, 36) is disposed.
By disposing the shock absorbing portion (35, 36) in a desired location, respectively, between the base end portion (33) of the lever body (31), which corresponds to the end portion of the brake lever (30) on the turning center side, and the top end portion of the lever body (31), the degree of impact force which can be absorbed can be adjusted.
In other words, if the respective shock absorbing portions (35 and 36) are provided such that they are overlapped one upon another, a slight impact force can be absorbed, the amount of the force varying with the degree of overlapping, while, by providing the respective shock absorbing portions (35 and 36) such that they are separated, a greater impact force can be absorbed, the amount of the force varying with the degree of separation.